So I thought it would be useful/nice to talk with some fellow marathon hopefuls and share tips on diet/kitting/final preparations. Hopefully a few others here are running, or have run before, and would be happy to share.

This will be my second marathon, but in many ways it's my first. I have trained really hard, lost almost 4 stone and I am feeling really hopeful of a strong run this time. This is my first proper marathon, but I have so many questions around kit/pre-eating/drinking frequency... blah blah.

So to start the first discussion, I'm keen to know what other runners do as prep when they wake up for a marathon. Let's start with the meal the night before, and discuss timings, because I'm struggling to get this spot on so far... and it's mega important not to feel anymore heavy (especially for a big guy like myself )

Not doing London (obviously) but I did Barcelona, my third marathon and my first real attempt at a time goal, 4 weeks ago.

Meal the night before? Something you're familiar with, and something you know won't cause you any digestive discomfort. For me, my dinner the night before Barcelona was a big bowl of Japanese udon noodles with beef, chili and vegetables, and I got an extra bowl of white rice on the side. Before Dublin last year I had a double helping of pasta with arrabiatta sauce and chicken. I'm not a believer in traditional carbo-loading, just eat a bit more than what you're used to (maybe with an extra side of rice/potatoes/pasta). Drink plenty of water the day before too, and don't drink any alcohol the day before. If you need to, snack on starchy carbs too. In terms of timings I've found that it doesn't really make a difference. I've eaten dinner any time from 4pm to 9pm the night before big races and not noticed any differences.

Try not to spend too much time on your feet the day before the race, if the expo is open on the Friday evening for a Sunday race it may be better to go then. Of course, I messed this up bigtime in Barcelona, did the breakfast run the day before and went to the Nou Camp the night before the race to watch the Barcelona-Zaragoza game. I REGRET NOTHING.

Lay out all your gear the night before the race too, you don't want to be scrambling for it when you have a very early start the next day. Don't wear anything new on race day, you don't want to find out 18 miles in that an awkward seam is going to chafe you to death. If you have a Garmin, charge it the night before. Print out a pace band for your goal marathon pace, and one about 15 minutes slower too.

On the morning - eat what you've eaten for breakfast on the morning of your long runs. For me, this is porridge, a bagel and a big mug of really strong coffee. If you're in a hotel, check what time they serve breakfast - if it's not early enough, be prepared to make porridge (or whatever) in your hotel room. Also, for the sake of "clearing the pipes" somewhat, drink some strong black coffee. Better to get a #2 out of the way before the race rather than queuing for portaloos along the way. For a 9am race start I'll usually eat breakfast at about 6.30am. Plan how you're going to get to the race start too, nothing worse than scrambling for a taxi and being in a rush. Don't forget your BodyGlide and suncream too - you really don't want chafing and sunburn to deal with after the race.

I've never done a marathon (and I'm not doing 2011) but I will enter the 2012 ballot in the hopes that a) I get selected and b) I get the all clear from docs regarding my knee injury in the summer. Optimistic, I know

I just wanted to ask though about running for a charity: How do you go about applying/registerin interest? And how much money do they ask for you?

I really want to run for unicef but there doesn't seem to be any info about the 2012 marathon, which is annoying as I won't be back in England until April 22nd. I really don't want to miss the boat!

Basically I don't know anything about marathons, but a friend of mine is doing one in the next coming weeks, and was talking about the fact she's currently on a vegetables and water diet, until a day or two before the race, and then she's on a carb-high diet.

Does this sound normal? For me, to be on a water vegetable diet before sounds like a terrible idea as surely then you're not getting the right stuff to give your body energy for what its about to be put through?

But i thought i'd ask here and see what the fitter people amongst us know! :P

I read a piece recently by a pro-runner (gah, trying to dig it out but no luck... he's that Ultra runner on MyProtein) who basically said never to make any sudden changes right before running a marathon. Be it clothing, footwear, diet etc.

Not that I've ever run a marathon, but the thought behind it was that you get into your routine, progress in your training and know what you're capable of without throwing any sudden variables into the mix. Unless she's done this before, or done it in training to see the effects, she may not know how her body'll react. That's what I read, anyway.

(Original post by CJ)
I read a piece recently by a pro-runner (gah, trying to dig it out but no luck... he's that Ultra runner on MyProtein) who basically said never to make any sudden changes right before running a marathon. Be it clothing, footwear, diet etc.

Not that I've ever run a marathon, but the thought behind it was that you get into your routine, progress in your training and know what you're capable of without throwing any sudden variables into the mix. Unless she's done this before, or done it in training to see the effects, she may not know how her body'll react. That's what I read, anyway.

This is kinda what I figured. She hasn't though. She's done one marathon before and when I mentioned it seemed pretty unhealthy told me I could keep my trap shut about it until I'd done a marathon, and then i could give my opinion about it.